To Be Or Not To Be
by CrossFaded
Summary: What does it mean to love? When Touma figures out the answer to this question, could it be too late? Or would fate be kind enough to grant him a happy ending? AU.
1. A Difference Of Level

Academy City.

A city filled with schools whose technology is 30 years ahead of the world.

As a result, most of its 2,300,000 inhabitants are students. However, there were something special about those students.

They were all ESPers.

ESPers are people who gained supernatural abilities through the Power Development Curriculum. There was a ranking system from Level 0 to Level 5.

Level 0s are people whose abilities are almost non-existent, or no ability at all.

At the extreme end, Level 5s are people whose abilities enables them to fight an entire army on equal terms.

Kamijou Touma was ranked as a Level 0 in the system. He was one of the 1,110,400 Level 0s in this city.

Which was why those thugs chasing after Touma who lived in the same city as him did not display any abilities.

"Get back here, you fucker!"

"Stop running!"

"Such misfortune."

Touma said as he ran across the street, under the starry night sky where a few couples were seated at the benches available as they admired the stars together.

He had a star-gazing date with Misaki, and he had a strong feeling that he was going to be late.

Touma glanced at the large TV screen placed outside a shopping mall.

It was 8.30pm. His date was at 9.00pm.

And I haven't gotten a bite yet.

After queuing up for a bank card replacement for two hours, Touma decided to grab a quick bite at a nearby family restaurant.

Before his pasta meal was served, he had gotten into some trouble, and ended up being chased by thugs.

Touma wasn't too bothered with the thugs. He could deal with them effortlessly.

Yet he was running away from them.

It's for their good.

As Touma was running in random directions disguised as a roundabout way towards the iron bridge, one by one, those thugs gave up chasing as they put their hands to their legs, panting heavily.

Upon seeing that nobody was chasing him anymore, Touma made his way to the iron bridge. After crossing the bridge and with some walking, he'd be able to meet up with Misaki.

"You're a rather nice person for going out of your way to protect those delinquents."

The bridge was not lit up, and the whole area was wrapped up in something like a glittering midnight sea. In front of Touma about 5 meters away was a middle-school girl with short, brown hair.

"So you figured that out."

The girl in front of him was Misaka Mikoto.

A Level 5.

There were only seven Level 5s in the city, and she was ranked third out of the seven.

Against a person who could fight an army on equal terms, it was for their own good that they stay away from Mikoto as far away as possible. Which was why Touma lured the thugs away from her, and ran across the street to tire them so that they would not go back to harass Mikoto.

Mikoto pulled out a few lightning bolt from her hair, "They were pretty annoying, so I ended up roasting them anyway."

Touma sighed. While he did not know the details behind it, Touma felt as though he had wasted his efforts running across the street to keep them away from her.

"I hope you didn't end up killing them. Alright, I have to go no-"

"Wait a minute."

"What?"

"Our duel! It's time we settle this once and for all! Don't think you can run away this time!"

Ever since Mikoto saw him negating her lightning with his right hand from about a month ago, she had been chasing after him. Fortunately, Touma managed to avoid fighting Mikoto through running away at the best possible time.

Electricity surrounded Mikoto and she fired a lightning bolt at Touma.

He reached out his right hand, and it vanished upon contact.

"You keep saying you're a Level 0, but are you really a Level 0?"

"That's what the SYSTEM scan says. I'm really a Level 0, go check the Bank if you want."

Touma may be a Level 0, but he had a strange ability that could not be detected by the SYSTEM scan which determines each person's Level.

An ability in his right hand known as the Imagine Breaker.

As long as it's a supernatural phenomenon, it will be nullified without any exceptions, but that was only the Imagine Breaker's default setting. There was more he could do.

"Then why are you completely unhurt, huh? Level 0."

Why she was obsessed with fighting him was simple.

Mikoto had to always restrain herself from going all out if she didn't want to end up as a murderer. This was the price of being the #3 in Academy City.

Now that she has found a person (Touma) that she could go all out against without getting him killed, she could let loose and prove her worth as a Level 5 by defeating him.

However, despite having searched the Bank and saw that Touma was really a Level 0 who is a good-for-nothing high-school boy, and fail his tests all the time, Mikoto believed that there must be some kind of trick going on.

A person who could negate her lightning like it was nothing definitely isn't a Level 0 no matter how you look at it.

Touma sighed, "Wouldn't the scan classify me as a Level 0 if my ability is always negating the AIM field around me?"

"Don't treat me like an idiot. All abilities originate from the AIM field that one possesses. How can you use your ability if you have no AIM field to manifest it?"

"... Oh right."

If his form teacher, Tsukiyomi Komoe was here, she would not hesitate to give him back-to-back supplementary lessons recapping the underlying concept of one's ability. What Mikoto said was a succinct explanation of this concept.

No AIM field, or very weak AIM field, no ability. It was as simple as that.

Touma had no AIM field, yet he still had an ability. Mikoto came to the conclusion that his ability must be something different from the abilities developed in Academy City.

"Hey. Do you know what a Railgun is?"

It was time to test the limits of his ability by unleashing her strongest move, the Railgun.

Mikoto took out a coin from her skirt pocket, "I doubt that a Level 0 like you would understand."

She flicked the coin up into the air with her thumb, "I'll show you."

An orange light beam from Mikoto's thumb tore through the air as it headed towards Touma. However, something incredible happened.

Touma grabbed the beam, and broke it apart from Mikoto's thumb like snapping an attached extension with his right hand.

Mikoto blinked in confusion, "How is that even possible...?"

He had grabbed energy emitted from her Railgun as if it was a solid object. Mikoto was reminded of the #7 Sogiita Gunha who could do similar impossible feats such as pulling down the Earth's electromagnetic field to form a shield around him.

The difference is that Gunha had an AIM field, but Touma doesn't.

"You are not even a Gemstone."

The long, orange glow stick in Touma's right hand began to change form.

It turned into a bident.

"Are you sure you really want me to fight you seriously?"

Touma had an focused look on his face. He was ready for her.

Mikoto grew excited upon seeing this.

"Even though you have a stranger ability than that #7, I'm still a Level 5 and I won't lose that easily even if you finally take me seriously."

She formed a iron sand sword.

"Take this!"

The blade grew in length as it darted towards Touma.

It was destroyed in a single strike, and before Mikoto could blink, Touma was already two meters closer to her, with the bident pointed dangerously close towards her neck.

"The world is more than just Academy City."

Mikoto trembled as she felt the stinging heat from Touma's bident. All it took for him was two moves. She didn't even have a chance to retaliate.

She felt that there was a profound meaning behind those words, but only Academy City could develop ESPers. Other countries have tried, but failed.

An existence like Touma should be impossible. He had no AIM field at all, yet he could do impossible things like the #7.

"Wh-who exactly are you?"

There are seven billion people in the world.

Five people stood at the very top.

Each one of them had enough power to take on the world on equal terms.

Touma was ranked fourth out of the five.

He may have been reduced to the level of a Saint, but the rest of his power still resides within him. Touma was only unable to fully manifest his Imagine Breaker at 100% output because he no longer possessed a suitable medium.

Compared to Mikoto who could fight an army alone, Touma was the real monster. However, he now wanted a peaceful life.

And he also had a date with Misaki.

"What is the time now?"

"I-If you don't p-put that away, I can't check the time on my phone properly."

"Oh right."

Touma smiled sheepishly as he threw the bident away. It turned back into a coin midair and it dropped on the bridge with a 'clank' sound.

Mikoto was still trembling as she flipped open her phone, "I-It's 9.30pm."

Touma had a resigned look on his face, "I see." and patted Mikoto on the head, "Don't be scared. You were the one who asked me to take you seriously. Well, I really have to go now."

He turned away and ran across the bridge as fast as a moving car.

As Mikoto went and picked up the coin that was surprisingly cold to the touch (her Railgun should have heated it up), she thought about an unanswered question in her mind.

What did he mean by 'The world is more than just Academy City'?

She had a feeling that if she truly understood what Touma meant by that, her question would be answered.

Just what exactly are you?

* * *

**Author's Note:** As I was writing A Certain Destructive Meltdowner, I realized that I'm not a Shizuri person at all. I mean, sure it was interesting trying out a different character than I usually write to get out of my comfort zone, but deep down inside, I'm more of a Misaki and/or Mikoto person. As in, I enjoy writing about them more. Since everybody is bored of Mikoto, I'll go with Misaki before everyone becomes bored of Misaki as well.

Anyway, yes, I was inspired by Loopsey's OP!Touma fic, so I decided to give Touma a power up, but not as OP as the Touma in his fic. Maybe Kanzaki's OP level would be pretty okay for Touma.

I'll see how the response for this fic goes. If you people really think that this fic has potential, I'll import my ideas that I've planned for 'A Certain Destructive Meltdowner' into this fic. If not... then I'll probably have to come up with something original I suppose. (But actually I myself think that it really has potential.)

And... hope you liked this short intro chapter before I delve deeper into the story.

Lastly, bonus virtual cookie to anyone who can guess the remaining four person who stood at the very top with Touma. A pizza if you get the order right.

See you :D


	2. Starry Date Night

"You're late." Misaki smiled, "Just as expected. Well, what trouble did you get into again?"

Touma sat at the plastic mat set up by Misaki in a grassy field. It was a cold night, so Misaki grabbed hold of Touma's hand to keep warm. She realized that his hand was actually quite cold, but Misaki enjoyed holding his hand, so she didn't mind.

"Long story. Basically, Misaka was being annoying again, so I was delayed for quite a while."

"Oh... Misaka. I tried my best to befriend her, but it seems as though she hates me for some reason."

"Maybe it's because of your remote. You should try to make friends without it. Misaka probably thinks that all your friends are actually your mind-controlled puppets, so she has a bad impression on you."

Misaki pouted, "I do, I do! Am I that socially inept of a person that I must use my remote to make friends?"

"Alright, I'll be Stranger A. How would you start making friends with this Stranger A?"

Misaki sat facing in front of Touma and cleared her throat, "Hi. My name is Shokuhou Misaki, nice to meet you."

"You're fat."

Without hesitating, Misaki took out a remote from her bag and pointed them at Touma.

Touma sighed, "See. You rely too much on your remote. You should at least ask him why is he saying such strange things before you consider taking that remote out."

"B-But Stranger A called me fat, so I have to take out my remote to see if there's anything wrong with his head. I'm not fat at all!"

Touma's childhood friend, Shokuhou Misaki, was an attractive blonde girl with an impressive chest that was impossible for her middle-school uniform to conceal, and slim legs worn over white, silky stockings.

She was definitely far from fat.

What was most striking about Misaki was the sparkling, gold stars in her eyes.

Because of those eyes, she was abandoned by her parents due to social pressures. Even in Academy City, Misaki ended up being alienated by those kids living in the same Child Error facility as her because of her starry eyes.

As a result, except for Touma and a few other people who did not mind her starry eyes and became friends with her, Misaki had some issues with trusting and forming meaningful relationships with other people.

Which was why she chose to take her remote out instead of asking Stranger A why is he being so weird and take his word for it. Misaki also trusted Touma, so she was willing to be honest with her reaction if she were to be in a similar situation like this.

A strange pattern that Misaki noticed is that her Mental Out is ineffective against all her true friends.

But it doesn't matter if I trust them anyway.

Perhaps it was because of this that when Misaki realized that her Mental Out doesn't work on Mikoto; though she felt uncomfortable not being able to read her mind, perhaps she might make a good friend after all. So Misaki tried her best to befriend her, but somehow Mikoto seem to hate her.

Do I really suck in making friends without using my remote at all, or is it her problem that she's biased against me because of my Mental Out like what Touma said? Never mind, I guess I have to try harder.

Misaki put her remote back, "Enough of this Stranger A thing. It's time for your punishment for being late!"

"What?!"

Touma saw that the stars in Misaki's eyes were twinkling. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Kiss me."

Touma fidgeted slightly, "Eh? Really?"

"Are you feeling nervous at the thought of kissing such a lovely queen? That's why it's called a punishment. But if you wish to go further than this, I don't mind. There's no one around."

"Thanks but no thanks. I'll just accept my punishment."

"You're boring. Isn't doing it out in the open every man's fantasy? Now I'm offering you this one in a million chance, and you reject me so easily."

"You must have a warped perception of men from being in a girl's school for too long."

Touma closed his lips and pressed it against Misaki's lips. She tried to pry open his lips using her tongue, but failed.

"Nice try. I won't fall for that again."

Touma laid on the mat and looked up towards the starry, night sky.

A lot has happened.

Touma had infiltrated Europe to achieve a power greater than God.

He needed that much power because he wanted to create a miracle.

A miracle that will change the world for the better.

But all the major organizations in the world thought that he was a villain who wanted to change the world for his own selfish purposes. So they started to oppose him. Which was why Touma ended up creating a magic cabal network with Misaki that was powerful enough to fight against a nation.

Nevertheless, he managed to obtain two critical grimoires.

Necronomicon and The Book Of The Law.

Using the knowledge in Necronomicon, Touma erased the consciousness of that Invisible Thing inside his right arm, took its power for his own, and obtained complete mastery over it. However, he was unable to fully utilize its power at 100% because of his human body.

Then, he used the knowledge in The Book Of The Law to transform his human body into an angelic body, allowing him to fully utilize its power at 100%.

The final piece to his miracle was Shokuhou Misaki.

Her Mental Out was an artificial embodiment of a miracle. Applied on an international scale, she could create world peace using it. Touma needed her ability to alter the people inside the world that he wanted to change to truly create a miracle.

With that, he achieved a power greater than God. However, he was stopped by one Magic God, and the Index Librorum Prohibitorum at maximum power.

In the end, they reduced him to the level of a Saint by negating 95% of his knowledge from each of the two grimiores he had acquired.

Without enough knowledge from both grimoires, like a bug in a program when missing a few parts, his powers began to work differently.

Firstly, there are two modes, the de-powered angelic body mode aka Saint mode, and the Imagine Breaker mode.

In Saint mode, he has super-strength and speed, but unable to negate and manipulate supernatural phenomenons with his right hand.

In Imagine Breaker mode, he no longer has super-strength and speed, but he regains his ability to negate and manipulate supernatural phenomenons with his right hand.

What is consistent in both of these mode are enhanced durability and healing.

If he uses his Saint mode for too long, it will gradually switch into the Imagine Breaker mode. Similarly, if he uses his Imagine Breaker mode for too long, it will gradually switch into the Saint mode.

Hence, Touma must constantly alternate between the two modes to achieve a balance.

Regardless of what mode, I should be okay even if things get serious.

Misaki rested her head on his chest.

"I'll watch the stars like this."

Touma nodded as if this was a normal thing, and looked back upwards.

Does he actually have feelings for me as well? Misaki thought.

She may not be able to read his mind, but Touma probably thinks of her as a strange friend who likes to do intimate things with him because its interesting.

Actually, it was because Misaki had taken a strong liking to him and eventually fell in love with him. But if she confessed her love, and he rejects her, then she would not be able to do all these things anymore.

Maybe it's fine if we stay like this...

Misaki turned her head sideways to feel his heartbeat.

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

The rhythmic pounding gave her a sense of security.

As long as you're here beside me, we can overcome anything.

Somehow, she had drifted off into a deep sleep.

After some time, Touma noticed that Misaki had fallen asleep.

What a sleepyhead.

For some reasons, Misaki liked doing things that an intimate couple would normally do with him. He thought that this was probably her way of expressing her friendship towards him.

What if it was because she has feelings for me beyond just friends?

Touma frowned. He decided to ignore this perplexing question that was constantly bothering him, but Touma found it difficult this time, so he let the question linger around his mind for a while before trying again.

Whether you see me as a friend, or as a lover, thank you.

He gently stroked Misaki's hair.

I wish that these peaceful days would last forever.

* * *

A small, blonde girl dressed in a black and white goth outfit with a black bag with a skull design slung over her shoulder was in an alleyway.

Instead of being frightened, she had a carefree look as she looked around her surroundings.

"Is Academy City that fucking safe during the night?"

She let out a sigh and continued walking.

"What do we have here?"

A group of thugs had appeared from the shadowy depths of the alleyway and surrounded the girl.

"I spoke too soon."

Despite being surrounded by thugs who were about three times her size, she let out a small chuckle.

"Are you seriously robbing a little girl? As you can see, I have no money."

A thug pointed at her bag, "What's inside that bag then? Fucking sweets?"

She calmly zipped open her bag, revealing a few cigarette packs inside.

"My sister prefer sweets. I prefer cigarettes."

Another thug said, "We'll make do with cigarettes. Hand them over, or we won't be nice."

While it was strange that a girl her age was smoking, all the thugs were only concerned about getting free cigarettes from this seemingly helpless little girl.

What they didn't know was that there was a ballistic knife concealed underneath the cigarette packs.

It was a knife with a detachable blade that could be propelled from a distance by pressing a trigger on the handle. Thanks to Academy City's technology, the blade had a smart system installed. This means that the handle could be used as a remote to control the detached blade from a distance.

The girl reached inside her bag, took out the knife and fired the blade at one of the thugs. Then, she waved her handle about like a conductor.

Blood was spilling all over the place as she conducted her symphony of death.

She gave a small bow after the last thug fell to the ground with his head almost sliced into two.

"Hope you enjoyed my performance."

The girl went over to the mutilated corpses and fished out a few wad of dollar notes from their pockets.

"Must be what they got from stealing other people's money."

She stuffed them inside her black bag together with her stained ballistic knife and headed towards a convenience store.

* * *

Sitting at a bench in a park was two identical blonde girls. They had the same clothes, but their bags were different. One of them had a black bag with a skull design, while the other had a pink bag with a heart design. Also, one had two locks of hair sticking out, while the other had five locks of hair sticking out.

The blonde girl with the pink bag and two locks of hair sticking out was Febri. The other girl was Maycia.

"This melon bread is really good! Do have some as well." Febri smiled while munching on her food.

Maycia gulped down her beer, "I'll pass."

After finishing her food, Febri remained silent for a moment before she decided to ask.

"Hey... will we able to save Janie?"

Maycia lit up a cigarette, "I have no fucking idea."

They were artificial ESPers created by a group called STUDY.

Maycia was created as a prototype in an attempt to reproduce the #1's ability known as Vector Change. Unfortunately, she was no longer connected to the Diffusion Ghost network because of her escape together with Febri, so she could not perform the necessary calculations to use that ability.

Janie was forced to become the Diffusion Ghost network core, and their purpose of escaping was to seek outside help in saving her.

While Maycia had been out hunting foolish people in alleyways for money, she was also looking for powerful individuals who sometimes lurk about in such places. They may not be helpful people, but if she were to offer herself as a valuable prototype that could be sold for a lot of money, the organisation that they belong to will not hesitate to help her.

Disappointing.

Maycia crushed the cigarette butt under her foot.

Five days. If I can't find anybody to help me save Janie before that, we'll fucking die.

Technically, they were Chemicaloids, artificial ESPers made from chemicals. As their metabolism processes causes their cells to secrete a poison that will kill them if too much is accumulated in their bodies, they needed special lollipops to remove the poison.

Maycia was different and had a higher resistance to the poison than Febri, so she could settle for ordinary cigarettes and alcohol as a lousier substitute to partially remove the poison, but she'll die after five days if she doesn't take those special lollipops.

Febri only had enough lollipops in her bag for five days. Maycia wanted to leave more lollipops for Febri, so she refused to take any from her.

From a distance, Maycia spotted two figures. It was dark, so she could not see their faces properly, but one figure must be girl judging from her rather impressive chest.

I don't have time, so I'm going to take a stab in the dark that at least one of them are secretly strong.

Maycia took out her ballistic knife. She meant it both metaphorically and literally.

Don't disappoint me.

And the blade was fired in their direction.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I created Maycia as a contrast to Febri. I thought it'd be interesting to have a smoker+drinker version of Febri. By the way, Maycia is based on the month of May which is a subtle reference to the Dark May project.

I was bothered with how the filler arc in Railgun S could be done much better, so I came up with my own version of it. STUDY will probably remain as a darkness reject, and nobody is going to suffer from any plot induced stupidity like Mikoto in Episode 22. I cringed when I saw Mikoto inject that thing into her arm. It was unbearable. If this happened before the Sister's Arc where Mikoto had a taste of the darkness in Academy City, I would have accepted it as Mikoto being too naive.

Okay, enough of my rant.

Anyway, the balance system for Touma's ability was inspired by Luminous, a MapleStory character. Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages, but he must switch around and cannot rely only on one mode. Also, with enhanced healing and durability in both modes, at least Touma isn't so weak like in canon anymore.

Oh, and one last thing.

Congrats Guest for getting even the order correct :D

Your virtual pizza will magically appear in your desktop... someday if my deliveryman isn't slacking off.

As for the rest, you can check the answers below, and claim your virtual pizza or cookie in my virtual shop.

1. Othinus  
2. Aleister  
3. Ollerus  
4. Touma  
5. Fiamma

However, remember that Aleister is supposed to be dead to the world, so the ranking that everyone in the story recognizes is as below.

1. Othinus  
2. Index (John's Pen Mode)  
3. Ollerus  
4. Touma  
5. Fiamma

So actually there are six people who stood at the top, but five only because Aleister is supposedly dead and we all know he isn't really dead.

Combined ranking as below

1. Othinus  
2. Aleister

3. Index (John's Pen Mode)

4. Ollerus  
5. Touma  
6. Fiamma

Oddly, Touma has the same rank as Misaki now.

And one last last thing.

Thanks for your reviews, fav/follows and what not. I'm glad that you people enjoyed this fic. If you have any comments, just leave them in the review box below :)

See ya.


	3. Silent Party (1)

"In the end, you fell asleep. What happened to star-gazing?"

Touma sighed while holding Misaki's hand as the both of them were in a park. It was midnight, and the area was almost pitch black if it wasn't for the faint moonlight. His visual acuity was 10, so Touma could still see his surroundings well. Misaki couldn't, so she held his hand.

"Sorry, I got too comfortable. But I'm sure you had fun looking at those beautiful stars, right?"

"I fell asleep as well. I just happened to wake up earlier."

It was true that the twinkling stars against a velvet black background were beautiful, but looking at the same scene for an hour would get boring no matter how beautiful it was. Or at least this was the case for Touma.

"Our star-gazing date somehow became a sleeping date. Maybe we should have booked a room and sleep together. Well, I don't mind if you take this the wrong way though." Misaki grinned.

Touma decided to change the subject before it got too raunchy.

"How's school?"

"Oh?" Misaki said, "Well... pretty okay I guess. There's PE which I always skip as usual. I'm still the highest scorer in my class. Nothing special happened in particular. How about you?"

"I'm still failing all my tests. Still have extra lessons. Loads of misfortune in my life. Yup, that's all."

Misaki sighed dramatically, "Having a harem in your school must be troublesome. As expected of the Kami-yan disease. It's even larger than my clique in Tokiwadai alone. You even nearly got raped by a few girls in the nurse room as well. Thaaat is sooo misfortunate of you."

Touma wanted to bury his head into sand and pretend that this never happened. It was during PE when he got struck by a soccer ball, basketball and a baseball consecutively on the head. Afterwards, he was sent to the nursing room to rest, and then Touma had to activate his Saint mode to prevent himself from getting raped.

"Those girls were overweight, and... not particularly cute. I would really have been raped if I only had my normal strength!"

"Are you implying that if they were as attractive as me, you would gladly accept them?"

"I only wanted to emphasize how misfortunate I actually was. "

"Yes, yes. Such misfortune indeed." Misaki said.

Just then, Touma grabbed a blade that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Blood dripped from his hand as he kept his grip tight.

He winced in pain. Touma may have enhanced healing, but it didn't mean that he could not feel pain.

"Are... you okay?" Misaki asked.

"It'll heal. Don't worry."

Touma snapped the blade into two using his thumb and forefinger, and crushed it to pieces underfoot. It was a blade from an Academy City's ballastic knife. Since it was already in pieces, the smart system that allows the user to remote control the blade no longer works.

After five seconds to let his hand heal, Misaki took out her remote and repeatedly pressed a button towards Touma.

He used his right hand to "grab" the telepathic waves, turned it into a 100 meters long blade, and aimed it at a blonde girl holding a ballistic knife without the blade.

Because of Touma's excellent eyesight, despite the blonde girl being over 100 meters away sitting in a bench with her twin, he could see her as if he was standing right in front of her.

Febri was stunned to see a blade that long being pointed at Maycia.

_Who sent you?_

She gripped Maycia's hand in fear. She was afraid of the hollow voice that echoed around them.

Maycia ignored the blade, and smiled like a confident businessman. Finally, a powerful individual that could save Janie.

"Don't be mistaken, this is just a greeting. I'm a working prototype created from the remnant of the Dark May Project. Currently I lack enough calculation ability to use Vector Change, but it should be easy for you to hook me up to a network. I'm willing to offer myself to you in exchange for a favour."

_Having sex with a minor is illegal, do you know that?_

The hollow voice turned feminine. It was probably the figure with an impressive chest. There was another figure beside it who was holding the blade.

"... That's not what I meant. Don't you understand? I'm fucking valuable. You can even resell me to another organisation for about 150 million yen. All I ask is for you to save my sister."

The blade gleaming under the streetlight beside the bench vanished.

Maycia blinked once.

She saw a figure coming closer. The face wasn't visible, but Maycia could tell that it had spiky hair.

Maycia blinked again.

A boy who had spiky hair was standing in front of her.

"Tell me more about your sister."

* * *

"We have to recapture Maycia as soon as possible."

In a dim, air-conditioned conference room, six person were seated around a large table, each with a laptop. Except for one girl with short, black hair, the remaining five wore spectacles. All of them belonged to a single organisation known as STUDY.

Their leader, Aritomi Haruki adjusted his glasses.

"Of course."

Sakurai Jun, a female with short, brown hair and spectacles flipped open a file.

"Because we spent a lot on Maycia, at most only 1000 Powered Suits can be equipped with weapons. Would that be okay with the rest?"

The remaining five members nodded their head.

"Alright. Let's see how our equipped Powered Suits fare against Maycia's ability. Whoever agrees, please raise your hands." Haruki said.

"Don't tell me... you're using that?" Jun said.

Haruki smiled, "Yes. That. It's our greatest discovery regarding the #1's ability."

Five out of the six people raised their hands, leaving the final vote to the girl without spectacles.

After a short pause, she raised her hands as well.

"Passed. We'll proceed as planned tomorrow."

* * *

What a perfect day to sleep in.

Touma thought as he opened his eyes, before closing them back.

It was a windy morning, and his bed felt particularly comfortable today. Waking up would be a sin, but he forgot that he took in two homeless girls.

A sharp pain assaulted his stomach.

"Stop sleeping and fucking make us breakfast."

"Just get off my bed!"

Maycia was standing on Touma's bed with her foot planted on his stomach. She reminded him of a certain blonde girl from London. Even the expression Maycia had was eerily similar.

"Now fucking make us breakfast."

She hopped off, and Touma reluctantly made his way to the kitchen.

"What would the both of you like?"

Maycia took a remote, and switched on the TV. It was the news channel, so she pressed a button for the kids channel for Febri.

Febri sat in front of the TV, enthralled by the show, "I want ham and eggs."

"How about some fried chicken?" Maycia took a beer from the fridge. She left a few cans inside because warm beer tastes awful.

Touma cracked a few eggs, "It's unhealthy to eat fried food for breakfast. I don't have ham, so we'll have to make do with scrambled eggs."

A sizzling sound emanated from the kitchen. The dorm room was soon filled with the aroma of eggs.

Maycia said, "So you're just going to drop the Mental Out like a strategic bomb onto STUDY's HQ and finish everything within an hour?"

"It'll take some time before Misaki can determine its exact location. Don't worry, with her information gathering ability, probably about a day."

"That's good."

Touma put the scrambled eggs in two plates and placed them on the dining table.

Maycia dragged Febri away from the TV, "Come on, it's time to fucking eat."

"If we're going to save Janie, could we get her a present?" Febri said while keeping her eyes on the TV.

"But I don't have any money now. Such a shame. And I thought that a present would be perfect after Janie awakes." Maycia said.

Both girls turned to look at Touma, wide-eyed and brimming with tears to induce sympathy.

He tried to resist, but couldn't. The moe level was too strong for him.

Touma sighed, "I get it, I get it. Such misfortune."

* * *

Judgement is useless.

A boy thought about his unconscious best friend lying inside a hospital. Because Judgement did not arrive in time, his friend ended up in this state as she tried to protect him from rogue ESPers who enjoyed killing as a form of entertainment.

They'll pay for being so useless.

He looked at a convenience store just ahead.

"That's your next target?"

A girl with long, black hair in a school uniform stood beside him. It gave him a scare because he had no idea when she was there.

"K-Kumokawa-sama?"

"How's the Level Upper that I gave you?"

"How about you see for yourself?"

Kumokawa Seria shot him a confused look as he pointed at the convenience store. An explosion occurred soon after. The blast waves were so strong that the both of them could feel slight tremors despite being at a distance away.

Seria nodded, "I see. Unfortunately for you, nobody is hurt in this explosion."

"What?! How would you know that?"

An albino carrying a plastic bag filled with cans walked out of the store. Soon after, the rest of people inside rushed outside in fear with only a few light injuries.

"Do you know who is he?" Seria said.

The boy shook his head.

"Accelerator. The strongest ESPer in Academy City. Those people were lucky that he was inside the store as well."

The boy understood why Seria would say that. With his Vector Change, he could save everyone by altering the vectors of the blast waves. It was as easy as lifting a finger.

But the convenience store wasn't his only target.

"They aren't going to be that lucky next time."

"Good luck then."

Seria was pleased to see that the Level Upper was working as intended, and left in a sport car.

The boy caused many casualties with his bombing antics, but no Judgement members died from any explosions yet.

He swore that a Judgement member will die today.

* * *

"Have you heard of the masked hero of Academy City?"

Ruiko was on her laptop as she surfed through various urban legend forums. It was her favourite pastime ever since she entered Academy City.

"Masked hero of Academy City?" Mikoto asked.

Together with Kazari, the three of them were in a family resturant. Kuroko was busy with Judgement work, so she wasn't here today.

"According to many netizens, he does really exist, but he disappeared for about a few years already. Nobody knows the reason why. Hmm... let's see." Ruiko clicked on a few links for more information, "His mask is really special. Black on the left half, white on the right half."

Mikoto sipped on her juice, and nearly spat it out, "Really?!"

"What's with that reaction..." Ruiko grinned, "Don't tell me you were once saved by him, and fell in love with him as a result?"

Mikoto blushed while denying it.

She had a dirty past that none of her friends knew about. Not even Kuroko. This masked hero of Academy City saved her from the darkness. Not only that, he made her feel loved. But he disappeared one day.

Because of his mysterious nature, no matter how hard Mikoto tried, she couldn't locate him. There wasn't even a slight clue to his whereabouts.

Yesterday, Touma showed off his impressive power by defeating her in two moves. Though she was frightened, Mikoto sensed that he gave off the same mysterious vibe as that masked hero.

Could he be the same person?

Mikoto sighed as she went back to sipping her juice.

"Here's your ice cream."

A waitress placed a large bowl of sundae in front of Kazari. Normally, she would be delighted, but she wasn't in the mood today.

Ruiko noticed that Kazari was different from usual.

"What's wrong?"

Kazari gave a small smile, "It's nothing."

Ruiko thought about what could have happened to Kazari, and she understood. Nasty comments were being posted regarding Judgement's ineptness in dealing with the recent bombing incidents.

"I'm sure you did your best as a member of Judgement."

Kazari sighed, "Is Judgement really that useless? We have tried our best to minimize causalities, and to track down the bomber as soon as possible, but it seems as though it has only gotten worse with each passing day. Anti-Skill is trying their best as well, but even so, the situation doesn't seem to be improving."

"It's really unfair of them to say such things. We all know that you, Shirai and even Konori have been spending sleepless night just to track down that bomber."

Mikoto knew that from her experience in the darkness of Academy City, Judgement and Anti-Skill is useless when it comes to serious incidents. But she also knew that they are trying their very best, and denying their efforts in keeping the city safe was wrong.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. Maybe the bomber is just good in covering his tracks."

Ruiko reached over and patted Kazari on the shoulder, "Yeah. Don't be too hard on yourself. It's your off day today, so cheer up!"

"Let's go to Seventh Mist for some shopping then." Mikoto said.

Kazari nodded, thankful for their attempt in cheering her up.

* * *

Mikoto was in paradise.

Rows and rows of Gekota merchandises filled the shop. Even the shop title was known as Gekota Paradise. It was a newly opened store in the mall.

"Uwah... Incredible!"

After Ruiko and Kazari went off on their own to check out some bikinis, Mikoto managed to sneak into this store.

Even toilet paper as well?! Mikoto thought as she walked about.

It was truly paradise. Bedsheets, towels, toothbrush, mugs, stationaries, and almost everything else probably except furniture were covered in this store

"What should I get?"

Mikoto was spoilt for choices. Too many things in this store that she wanted to buy. While she could afford to buy everything in this store, her obsession towards Gekota was not as extreme as Kuroko's obsession towards her.

"Could it be..."

Mikoto spotted a limited edition mini Gekota figurine collection set. All her missing black, white and rainbow figurines to finish her collection was inside. Only one was left.

She went over and grabbed the set. However, Mikoto realized that she was facing competition from a little blonde girl with a lollipop in her mouth.

The both of them were holding onto the set like they were in a tug of war game.

"Don't you know what is meant by respecting your seniors. So just let go and be a good girl."

Mikoto was dying of embarrassment from saying that. A middle-schooler was fighting with a small child over Gekota. It was clear that the middle-schooler should be the one letting go.

Febri was determined. This was the perfect present for Janie. She tried to snatch it away, but she didn't have enough strength.

"L-Look, a friend of mine really loves the set, if sh-she cannot finish her collection, I'm a-afraid she'll commit suicide. Now that you understand how serious this is, let go!"

For her size, the little blonde girl was surprisingly strong. They were now really in a tug of war game. People were looking at them. If Mikoto had not said such a lie, everyone would start pointing fingers at her for bullying a little girl.

Febri shook her head as she increased her strength.

For Janie, I must perserve and keep on trying!

Mikoto was tempted to use her electricity against her, but she somehow felt that this was wrong.

Do I really have to go that far just for this collection set?

"What's this? A fucking middle-schooler fighting over Gekota with a little girl? Do you even have any sense of decency?"

Mikoto saw another identical little blonde girl. But her language seemed too mature for her age.

And then she saw him.

Kamijou Touma.

Mikoto let go of the set instantly.

Touma said, "Biribiri. I didn't know you were still into such things."

Mikoto blushed in embarrassment, "Nope. N-Not at all. A f-friend of mine w-wanted this set badly, that's all."

In some ways, Touma reminded Mikoto of herself. Powerful, yet rather humble. He was always holding back, just like her. She only realized that only yesterday when he decided not to hold back by defeating her in two moves.

It was embarrassing for her to be caught fighting over Gekota with a little girl by such a cool guy like Touma.

"So I assume that this set is fucking ours?" Maycia looked at the price, "Kamijou-san, 30,000 yen please."

Touma opened his wallet, "I only have 12,000 yen. Don't ask me to withdraw money from the bank because that's everything from my savings."

"Hoho," Mikoto's eyes were sparkling, "Well, how about we make a deal. All I need is black, white and rainbow, so I'm willing to pay 30,000 yens just for these three."

Febri tugged at Maycia's sleeve, "But Janie loves rainbow..."

"Black and white only. 65,000 yen. Take it or leave it."

Touma could see from her confidence and tone that Maycia would be a very shrewd businesswoman when she grows up.

After struggling for a moment because rainbow is the rarest, Mikoto agreed.

She took out her credit card, made payment, took the two mini figurines and stuffed it inside her skirt pocket.

Just then, her phone rang.

"Kuroko?"

"Onee-sama, I have no time to explain. Just find Uiharu before the bomber targets her. Hurry."

Mikoto put down the phone.

"What's wrong?" Touma asked.

"Find a flower head Judgment girl before the bomber gets to her. We don't have time, hurry."

All of them left the store, and was about to spilt up when they saw Kazari and Ruiko from a distance.

A little girl used Telekinesis and sent a plush toy from her hands towards Kazari.

"Yay! I did it! Ice cream time!"

She hopped away with glee.

Kazari looked at the plush toy. It was a green frog, but it wasn't Gekota.

"I somehow have a bad feeling about this." Ruiko said.

The toy began to shrink into nothing. Ruiko's feeling was right.

"A graviton bomb?!"

Kazari threw it away in fear.

Touma sprinted and grabbed the plush toy. When it completely turned into nothing, instead of exploding, he used his Imagine Breaker to use the energy generated into summoning his bident.

To the rest, it was like he pulled out a sliver weapon through an invisible portal.

Touma could have negated the explosion, but he needed the bident to deal with the Powered Suits behind Kazari and Ruiko.

The bident was the Holy Lance, though its true form isn't sliver in colour. It just happened to be this colour when he summoned it.

This weapon was an unexpected symbol of his epithet that identified him as the fourth strongest in the world.

While the real bident is stuck at the moon, Touma could use his Imagine Breaker to summon a portion of its power by manipulating energies generated by supernatural phenomenons as a medium. The stronger the energy, the stronger its power up to a certain limit.

Those Powered Suits fired missiles from its back, flying in all directions.

Touma hurled his bident through the air. It split into smaller bidents which pierced through the missiles. Mini explosions occurred as it was taken down one by one.

The smaller bidents merged back into a single bident.

Touma leaped up, grabbed it and sliced the Powered Suits into two, three at a time. It took him less than 10 seconds to deal with those suits.

Ruiko and Kazari stood there, shocked.

"Just... what the hell is that ability? Only a Level 5 is capable of this... That's definitely not Meltdowner... Dark Matter? Attack Crash?" Ruiko asked.

Touma did not know how to answer Ruiko. He was supposed to be a Level 0, a powerless ESPer. However, the situation forced him to use his power.

"What you saw just now is only an illusion. It'd be good if you think of it that way." Touma said.

Mikoto was reminded of the bridge incident last night. Would it be better for her to think of Touma grabbing energy emitted from her Railgun like it was a solid object with his bare hands and turning it into a weapon as an illusion?

But wouldn't that make him something like that disgusting Mental Out? A power that is not of Academy City, huh...

His power is definitely not an illusion. It was merely incomprehensible like that #7.

This was what Mikoto concluded about his power.

"Do you happen to be that hidden #6 that nobody knows about?" Kazari asked.

"He's just a Level 0. I've checked the Bank." Mikoto said.

Ruiko dropped her jaw in response, "EHH?! That's ridiculous. Misaka, are you joking? He is definitely not a Level 0 no matter how you lo-"

"Help me."

Maycia was terrified. Her usual smug look was nowhere to be seen.

Febri clutched her head in pain.

"Run. Get out of my sight." Maycia said.

Touma was confused, until when a few people inside a shop was crushed into a bloody mess by an invisible force. They were all within Maycia's sight.

"Send Febri to the hospital and fucking leave the mall before I end up fucking killing everyone!"

Mikoto scooped Febri and rushed off with Kazari and Ruiko.

And so, there was a new troublesome threat that Touma needed to deal with.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I get a strange feeling that this chapter is kinda boring, so apologies for that if you think that it's boring. Well, at least the plot is moving I guess. I haven't written Mikoto for a long time, and I'm glad to be writing her again. However, this is still a Misaki fic, so more emphasis will be on Misaki of course.

About the Holy Lance, since Touma's right hand has been referred to as the God Killing Spear in the LN, I thought it'd be cool if he actually possessed the real thing. Hopefully I'll be able to explain and show more things about this lance in future chapters.

You might have noticed some overlapping similarities with my other fics, but there are differences, so don't worry. Mikoto having a dark past makes the Sister's Arc more epic, and different from the norm.

Lastly, if you're wondering how Maycia, who possess Vector Change, is able to crush people from a distance, it's actually kinda obvious (maybe not) if you've read the LNs up till Vol 22. Also, Haruki mentioned its their greatest discovery about the #1's ability. I'll leave this simple mystery for you to figure out.

That's all from me I guess.

If you have any comments, just leave them in the review box below.

Hope you liked the chapter :)


	4. Silent Party (2)

"What exactly is going on?"

"This is beyond Vector Change, do you know that?"

A large crowd escaped from the shops that was lining the sides due to the chaos caused by the Powered Suits. As soon as they stepped out, Maycia turned to face them, and they were all instantly crushed. This led to everyone staying put inside, afraid of ending up in the same fate as them if they were to leave.

Touma and Maycia were at the fourth level. The area around them was red, with piles of corpses lying around. The walls were stained with blood, and a thin film of blood covered the ground.

All of this was the result of an invisible force crushing a crowd at once like flattening a pancake.

Maycia stood still. She wanted to move, but something took over her body. No doubt it was STUDY. Maycia was naïve to have thought that she was an independent unit free from anybody's control. Fortunately, she still retained some control over her speech and thoughts.

Even that was slowly slipping as well.

"A code has been inputted into me. I'm losing control. Eventually, I'll degenerate into a killing machine that can kill at sight."

Touma still had the Holy Lance in his hand. He could kill Maycia in a single strike if needed.

"Is there any other option?"

"You have to kill me. The Diffusion Ghost network is being overloaded because of that code. If you don't kill me, Janie and Febri will die when the network breaks down."

Maycia smiled. Those two months she spent with Janie and Febri, and a certain idiotic woman was enough. Even though she found them rather immature, but they were fun to be with.

"I really have no regrets. Besides, we've barely met for a day. Don't have to get so emotionally attached to me."

Touma clutched his bident, "You can't die for their sake. I'm sure there's another way where you don't have to die to save them."

He may not have understood how close Maycia was with the three of them, but they will surely be devastated if Maycia were to die.

Perhaps this was the sort of person Touma was.

He wanted a happy ending where everybody will be smiling in the end. It didn't matter what happened in between, so long as it eventually led to this kind of ending.

Maycia lifted a hand towards Touma, "Aha, so these STUDY bastards has decided to pit my new ability against you?"

An overwhelming unseen force slammed against Touma like a moving truck. A normal human would have died, but Touma was knocked to the ground, and managed to get up with a dull ache in his chest.

He shot forth with the bident, but the same force shattered the bident into pieces, and knocked him back, forming a crater on the ground.

I don't believe it.

Touma was in his Saint mode. His approaching speed was enough to break the sound barrier. For that force to knock him back despite his speed, just how much calucation power did Maycia possess?

The bident was shattered because its durability is dependent on how much energy was used to summon it. The opposing force was too powerful.

Maycia hurled a fist and Touma intercepted it with a fist of his own.

The ground under them was destroyed and the both of them fell to the third level. It began to rain human flesh with some blood trickling down. It was empty because most people in this level had already evacuated from the mall.

"How do I stop this code?" Touma asked.

"I don't know how to stop this. I'm scared. Janie and Febri is going to die because of my fault."

The same overwhelming force appeared again. Touma switched to his Imagine Breaker mode, lifted his right hand and negated it, almost breaking his hand in the process.

"If my right hand touches you, there might be a chance."

Touma switched back to Saint mode, and attempted to break through the invisible force that was preventing him from reaching Maycia.

She was a prototype to recreate the powers of the #1 known as Vector Change. It allows one to manipulate the vectors of anything by touching it.

There was also a passive mode known as Redirection where any incoming vectors towards the AIM field would be automatically redirected.

What if Maycia's AIM field expanded, so when Touma tried to get closer, he could not because he was fighting against the redirected vectors of his approach?

Is this Redirection? If that's the case, I'll break through this defense.

Touma used his Imagine Breaker, but he realized that it was something like an invisible water jet pushing against him. The regeneration rate was too fast for it to be negated completely. He didn't have the strength to push through that "water jet" as well.

"Do you at least have an idea of what power you're using?"

"I don't kno- dsadsdIdsasdHAVEgrgdwNOdwdwIDEA."

Maycia's eyes were flashing red, and her breathing grew more laboured.

"I'm reaching that limit soon. That's great, I'll end up dying first. Janie and Febri will be fine. After all, I'm just a fucking prototype. This is probably an experiment to see where I can be improved. Luckily, I'm a shitty prototype that won't last for more than 30 minutes."

It was only for a moment, but Touma had heard Maycia speaking in the language of an angel. His own body was 5% angelic, so he could understand what she said, but is unable to respond in the same way.

Is STUDY attempting to create an artificial angel?

Touma was stunned at how far science had advanced. Reaching into even the realms of divinity?

The more pressing concern was to stop Maycia from sprouting wings. This should be the limit that she was referring to.

He began to manipulate the invisible force. A pair of jet black wings was forming from his back.

"Just what the hell are you doing?!" Maycia said.

"Reverse engineering your power, and so the code that is controlling you."

Touma once thought that his Imagine Breaker was a power that could negate any supernatural phenomenon, but it was actually a power that could reverse engineer any supernatural phenomenon to negate it. He tampered with his Imagine Breaker to create the manipulation option.

"Even if you succeed, how are you going to implement it?"

Touma widened his eyes in shock, "I..."

Maycia was right. So what if he could reverse engineer the code controlling her? He had no way of implementing a command created through his reverse engineering to terminate the code.

There was another option of touching Maycia with his right hand.

Touma cursed his powerlessness. His Saint mode and Imagine Breaker mode cannot co-exist. It was impossible for him to move at supersonic speed, and having his Imagine Breaker to negate the invisible force. His strength even with Saint mode was not powerful enough to push through that force.

"Damm it!"

For every two steps Touma took, he was pushed back by three steps.

"It was nice knowing you. Well, if you're that emotionally attached to me, do me a favor after I die. Free Janie and Febri."

"I will. I will definitely free Janie and Febri."

Maycia let out a comforting sigh, "Ahh... That's great. Despite knowing each other for than less a day, you're willing to go so far just for me. I'm such a useless sister. I really wished that I could have done something on my own instead of relying on others."

Touma was finished with his reverse engineering.

"I understand what this is all about."

"I think I understand as well."

In truth, Maycia's understanding was very different from Touma's understanding, but the result was the same.

Snowy white wings sprouted from Maycia's back. A halo appeared above her head.

The entire third level was destroyed with a single flap of her wings. Touma shielded himself from the shockwaves with his own wings. There was no more ground underneath, so they were floating in the air using their wings.

"If I had such a power from the start, I'm sure I could have been a good sister who can protect them from anything." Maycia said.

She closed her eyes. The wings and the halo vanished as Maycia fell to the ground.

Touma swooped in, and held her in his arms.

"And free that idiotic woman as well. Remember your promise."

Maycia went limp, and she stopped breathing.

However, there was a smile on her face.

Touma nodded. He understood the meaning of that smile.

"I will definitely free them. It's a promise."

* * *

"We've succeeded!"

Those were the first words that Maycia heard as she stepped out of the Testament machine.

A brown-haired woman wearing spectacles was standing in front of her, smiling.

"How are you?"

"Who the fuck are you anyway?"

Maycia remembered her name.

Sakurai Jun.

"I guess this is to be expected since we inputted the thought patterns of that #1." Jun sighed.

This is when Maycia learnt that she was a prototype to recreate the ability of the strongest ESPer in Academy City.

Everyday, she would go through countless experiments to test her ability. Most of them were very cruel, leaving her in a near-death state each time.

However, Maycia could be repaired easily. Even so, it was painful. Everyday was like hell.

"Test 73 will begin in 10, 9, 8, 7..."

Maycia was in a familiar white room. A missile was aimed towards her.

"... 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0."

She used her Redirection to alter the vectors of that missile, crashing into a wall beside her instead, but Maycia failed to completely reflect the blast waves caused by the explosion.

Maycia's chest was in extreme agony, and one arm was gone. It was the 73th time that she felt the same pain assaulting her.

"Time for the doll to be repaired once again."

A fat man wearing spectacles would always say that as he retrieved her from the room.

This added to Maycia's agony.

Fuck this. Am I really just a doll with a valuable ability made to be abused by you people?!

Afterwards, she would be dumped inside a strange machine, and her body would be repaired, ready for the next experiment.

"Sorry that we have to put you through this pain."

Each time after fixing her up, Jun would always say that.

Maycia would always ignore her and walk away.

If you're truly sorry, why keep on putting me through this shit? You're probably a fucking hypocrite. Nice on the outside, but inside you're just like the rest.

One day, Jun brought Maycia inside a brightly colored room. There were two identical girls who looked exactly the same as her.

Maycia was horrified to see clones of herself playing with toys.

"What the fuck is this?!"

Jun clapped her hands and directed their attention towards Maycia.

"This is your elder sister, Maycia. Maycia, these are your two younger sisters, Janie and Febri."

Both Janie and Febri waved their hands and smiled, "Onee-chan!"

"J-Just call me Maycia god damn it."

"Okay. Maycia!"

I truly have difficulty being around them.

Maycia felt like an adult being placed together with retarded three-year-olds who enjoys playing make-believe using whatever that was available.

"I'm a pirate! And I'm going to steal your treasure!"

"I have a gun, and I'm going to shoot you."

It was just another session of playing make-believe. Febri had a toy sword, while Janie had a gun made from Lego parts.

Maycia sat at a corner, disinterestedly looking at them.

"Won't you join us in our treasure fight?" Febri asked.

Janie waved her gun around, "Yeah. The more the merrier!"

"You really don't want to join them?" Jun said, "Look, I'll join them as well, so don't make up any excuses saying that its only for kids."

When Maycia saw how Jun was willing to put down her pride, she decided to give it a shot. Her opinion of Jun was gradually changing seeing how she treated them as proper humans instead of dolls unlike the rest.

It was still something that only retarded three-year-olds would play, but that was where the fun of playing make-believe lies.

Maycia's life began to have meaning. Despite going through shitty experiments everyday, she looked forward to spending time with the both of them, and Jun after that.

Jun was like a mother figure that taught them a lot of things, and a friend that they had fun with.

"Let's go to the nearest shopping mall. It's not good to be cooped up in this experimental facility forever."

The air outside was uncomfortably warm, yet fresh. Maycia was too used to the air conditioning inside, so she felt at home when they entered the mall.

Naturally, the toy store was their first destination.

"Ge-ge-gekota!"

Janie was beaming from ear to ear as she played with the Gekota finger puppets.

"You must really like Gekota a lot huh?" Maycia asked.

"Because it is cute."

"Oh..."

Maycia could not see anything cute about this Gekota. Then again, she wasn't an immature three-year-old like Janie.

"Next time, I want a rainbow one!"

"Well, next time then." Jun patted Janie on the head.

Afterwards, they all headed to a bank because Jun wanted to withdraw money.

"Maycia, I'm counting on you as a elder sister to make sure they sit still and be quiet."

Jun joined the queue while the triplets sat in one of the brown couches being placed around.

Janie and Febri began playing thumb wrestling with the Gekota finger puppets.

Well, at least they aren't running about. Maycia thought.

The bank was quiet with the occasional murmurings. Sometimes, the both of them would get too loud while engrossed in their finger wrestling, so Maycia had to quieten them down before they get kicked out for being too noisy.

A loud gunshot disturbed the silence.

"Freeze!"

It was a group of robbers armed with rifles.

One of them grabbed Jun as a hostage for an easy getaway later. Febri acted on impulse and charged towards the robber to rescue Jun. She ended up becoming another hostage.

Febri squeaked, her voice barely audible.

"Help me."

Janie jabbed at Maycia's sides with a pleading look.

"Yeah. Yeah."

Maycia took a few finger puppets from Janie and hopped off the couch annoyed. Why was Febri so stupid? Does she even have some basic common sense?

"Hey you, let go of this woman, and my sister."

Maycia stood in front of those robbers. She showed no sign of fear.

"What if I don't? Little girl."

This particular robber doubted that a little girl like her wouldn't be capable of something dangerous.

But this was Academy City after all. Looks can be pretty deceiving.

"Do you really want to find out?"

Maycia hurled a finger puppet towards that robber, piercing completely through his forehead.

She hurled one more finger puppet towards the robber that was holding Jun hostage.

Confused and afraid at what Maycia did, the remaining robbers opened fire at her.

It was a grave mistake. She reflected all the bullets, killing them in an instant.

The crowd scrambled for the exit while the manager was calling Anti-Skill to deal with the bodies.

Febri rushed to hug Maycia.

"Thank you! I knew you would save us."

"Next time, please don't be so stupid and just rush into things!" Maycia rebuked.

"Okay... I'm sorry... but thanks for saving me."

Jun laughed, "You don't really have to thank her. It's the elder sister's responsibility to protect her younger sister in times of trouble after all."

"Maycia is a good elder sister for protecting us." Janie said.

...

Yeah, I just wanted to be a good elder sister for the both of them.

That's why I need to have power.

I want to protect my family!

It was the strong desire to protect that made Maycia realized something about the power she had.

"I understand what this is all about." Touma said.

"I think I understand as well."

Vector Change is more than just pure destruction.

With that understanding, a new power emerged.

Maycia used that power to erase the code that was controlling her, and disconnected from the Diffusion Ghost network plus two other unknown network that Maycia now realized that she was connected to as well.

She also detected an attempt to erase the code from an external terminal connected to the Diffusion Ghost network.

That idiotic woman... but everything is okay now.

Janie and Febri was no longer in danger.

Maycia became an independent unit possessing an incredible amount of power without relying on any network.

Snowy white wings sprouted from her back, and a halo appeared above her head.

The entire third level was destroyed with a single flap of her wings. Touma shielded himself from the shockwaves with his own wings. There was no more ground underneath, so they were floating in the air using their wings.

"If I had such a power from the start, I'm sure I could have been a good sister who can protect them from anything." Maycia said.

She closed her eyes. The wings and the halo vanished as Maycia fell to the ground.

Touma swooped in, and held her in his arms.

Five seconds before dying, Maycia finally found the answer to a question that she had forgotten for some time.

_"Sorry that we have to put you through this pain."_

Why do you apologize each time?

This was the question.

And the answer Maycia found was...

Because I care for you.

"And free that idiotic woman as well. Remember your promise."

The power was too great for her to handle.

Maycia went limp, and she stopped breathing.

However, there was a smile on her face.

* * *

Jun slipped into the mainframe room of the Diffusion Ghost network. It was a large room filled with computer terminals as large as a telephone booth.

She connected her laptop into one terminal in a dark corner and began to erase a code inputted into Maycia. Despite the air-conditioning, sweat was dripping down from her face as she furiously punched in commands after commands.

Maycia was an artificial ESPer created with chemicals.

With data from the Dark May project provided by their backer, they managed to 100% replicate the AIM field of the #1, and Maycia could use his ability at Level 5, but she only had enough calculation power to use Vector Change at Level 2 even with the Diffusion Ghost network because her brain was not powerful enough.

This code would push Maycia's ability beyond Level 5 at the cost of overloading the network.

Janie was the core, and Febri was the backup core to supply additional calculation power. Maycia was forcibly connected through the code.

The three of them would die if Jun did not erase it from the network soon enough.

Just what kind of code this is?

This code was provided by their backer. STUDY has tried to reverse engineer the code, but to no avail. All they knew that according to the simulation, if Maycia were to be inputted with this code, a new clearance level would be available to her Vector Change.

Imaginary vectors.

An absolute power that can destroy anything within sight.

Jun saw how easily a crowd was killed just by looking at them.

I have to stop this.

She was finally halfway through. This was the critical moment of her plan.

They should've realized that they lost control over Maycia through the code.

Everything would be okay if I erase the code before the rest finds me.

It was only a temporary solution to prolong their lives. Their backer could provide another code, and her betrayal would be for nothing.

But I have to save them.

Jun felt the cold gun barrel pressed against her temples.

"You're faster than I expected."

Haruki smirked, "I told you not to become so close with them. All of them are just dolls that will bring STUDY closer to our goals, but you've betrayed us because of them? What a pity."

"They are not dolls."

"They are dolls created by us."

"That's why they are my children."

Haruki and Jun was the founder of STUDY. The Chemicaloid project to create artificial ESPers with chemcials was their brainchild.

After countless rejections, they finally found a backer who was willing to fund their project.

Maycia was born from that project.

Janie and Febri was born some time later to augment the Diffusion Ghost network

Jun heard thudding footsteps. Someone else had entered the room.

"It doesn't matter, you'll reach a dead end anyway."

It was their backer.

Kumokawa Seria.

She switched on a giant screen, displaying the situation between Touma and Maycia.

Maycia was immobile, but there was an invisible force preventing him from reaching her.

Seria grabbed a laptop from another member from STUDY that entered the room, and connected it to a terminal. She pressed a few buttons before looking up at the giant screen.

"Do you want to know why Maycia isn't dead by now?" Seria said.

Before Jun could reply, Seria continued.

"Because other than the Diffusion Ghost network, the Level Upper and Misaka network is supporting Maycia's calculations as well, but an additional 30,000 brains is just barely enough to keep up."

Jun reached a dead end in trying to erase the code, but she continued trying to figure out a solution.

I will definitely save all of you.

Meanwhile, Seria watched how powerless Touma was as he tried his best to get closer to Maycia, but failed.

So that's how weak you've become.

She determined that a rough estimate of Touma's current power level would be around 1.5 times stronger than Accelerator.

Seria heard about how Touma, her ex-boyfriend, was so powerful in the magic side that he could probably take on the world and win.

But reduced to the level where you can only take on an army and win? Pathetic.

A pair of jet black wings was forming from Touma's back as he continued to push forward, only to be pushed back.

Wings aren't going to make you any less pathetic.

Seria went back to her laptop and looked at Mikoto soaring in the air with a blade surfboard, carrying Febri on her back.

Mikoto was the reason for her misery.

She was the reason why Touma was her ex.

You betrayed me for her.

Seria clenched a fist. She sent a few Powered Suits after Mikoto. It was futile because she could deal with them easily as a Level 5, but Seria felt as though she should do something to express her hatred towards Mikoto.

"I'm done here."

Seria stood up and left the room after watching Maycia sprouting white wings and a halo, erased the code inputted inside her, and disconnected from the three networks. She managed to destroy a level of the shopping mall without any network support by flapping her wings once.

As Seria walked down the corridor, she took out her phone.

"Are those 1000 Powered Suits armed with weapons disposed of?"

"Yes."

"Good. We don't want to be labelled as terrorists, do we?"

She put down the phone.

Everything is perfect for the Level 6 Shift Project.

* * *

Mikoto was carrying Febri on her back as she sprinted towards the nearest hospital. Ruiko managed to keep up with Mikoto, but Kazari was almost left behind at times.

The gruesome scene from before gave Ruiko a strong nauseous feeling just by thinking about it.

Even Kazari was horrified, but why was Mikoto not affected by the slightest bit? The crazy spiky-haired guy who pulled a weapon out from a graviton explosion was an exception.

It seems as though Misaka is used to seeing such things. I wonder why.

This was what Ruiko inferred from Mikoto's reaction upon witnessing a few people being crushed into bloody meat piles.

Ruiko suppressed her urge to vomit.

"S-Should we ca-call Anti-Skill for backup? I don't th-think that boy is enough." Kazari said, panting.

"Yeah, I'm afraid he'd end up like those people. Maybe to rescue him?" Ruiko said.

"Calling Anti-Skill would be equal to sending them to their death." Mikoto said, "I'm sure he can handle this."

He was a person who could defeat her in two moves, and could do impossible things like grabbing energy and pulling a weapon out from a graviton explosion. Dealing with that arrogant blonde twin who knew how to exploit her love for Gekota should be no problem.

Febri was panting even harder than Kazari, and Mikoto could feel her becoming hotter.

"I guess I have no choice. I'll use my fastest method then. See you later."

Using magnetism, Mikoto leaped up towards a rooftop, plucked a blade from a wind turbine, and zipped through the air using the blade like a surfboard.

The buildings around her were built mostly with metal, so she was able to create an expanding electromagnetic field to travel fast without hopping about using the blade as a stable transport.

Honestly, what is his relationship with this little girl and that other twin?

Mikoto was too focused on her Gekota that she forgot to ask Touma.

Blonde reminds me of that Mental Out. I swear if he is actually related to her in some way, I don't wish to live on this planet anymore.

Associating the most disgusting bitch ever lived with the most coolest guy ever lived was too much for Mikoto.

She deftly dodged a few missiles from behind, and turned to face five menacing Powered Suits attached with wings. Mikoto's spatial sensing through electromagnetic waves allowed her to predict any incoming attacks.

"What the fuck?"

They seemed to be saying 'Hand over Febri or die', but when those Powered Suits relentlessly released a stream of missiles, pushing Mikoto's acrobatic dodging skills to the limits, the message was more towards 'The both of you should just fucking die'.

Is this some kind of a bullet hell game?!

Mikoto swerved to her right, grazing through a missile, but another one slammed straight towards her. She lifted up the blade surfboard in time, and propelled herself and Febri away from the explosion.

While descending towards ground, with one hand grabbing Febri by her wrist, Mikoto swung a large lightning bolt sideways towards those Powered Suit only to see it being dissipated away.

Shit. Amour made from electrical insulators? I underestimated them. But such cheap tricks won't work against a Level 5.

Mikoto slowed down her descent using magnetism, and landed on the asphalt.

The five Powered Suits landed as well, crushing a few cars underneath.

"I'd like to see how you deal with kinetic energy."

Mikoto took a coin out and fired her Railgun at one Powered Suit. An orange beam blasted through the amour, and it fell to the ground in ruins.

"Wait a minute..."

Mikoto realized that the Powered Suits were not moving at all. Despite hearing the faint rumbling sound of their engine running, they stood there, silent.

"I'm part of the Diffusion Ghost network as well." Febri said.

Her body was trembling as she struggled to keep standing.

"Self destruct."

The remaining four Powered Suits fell apart as if they were sliced into pieces by an invisible blade.

Mikoto blinked at how easy it was for Febri to deal with the Powered Suits.

"Maybe you should have done so from th-"

A soft thud interrupted Mikoto.

Febri was unconscious, lying on the warm asphalt.

* * *

"How is Febri?" Mikoto asked.

A frog-face doctor shook his head, "She has a fever, but the problem is that I can't make it go away."

They were both standing outside Febri's hospital ward.

"Why? Is there anything wrong with her?"

"She's... artificially created. Simply put, she's an artificial human."

With Academy City's technology, this wasn't impossible, but for what purpose? Some underground experiment from the dark side?

"Is there anything I can do to help her...?"

"I'm afraid only the person who created her can save her. Even those lollipops she has isn't working anymore. She only has two days before she dies from the fever."

"Lollipops? I was somehow dragged into this situation, so I don't really understand what's going on."

Mikoto was out shopping with her friends when a graviton bomb suddenly went off, and then she had to send that blonde girl to a hospital, dodging missile on the way while her twin went berserk.

"Her artificial body secretes a poison that will kill her if too much is accumulated, so she needs special lollipops to remove the poison."

It was an unexpected voice.

"Shokuhou Misaki? What the fuck are you doing here? Does this blonde girl happen to be your sister that you artificially created with your Mental Out?"

"Well, it is possible, but it's not worth the effort. Creating a human psyche from nothing isn't easy, you know?"

Mikoto folded her arms, "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, me?" Misaki said, "You'll find out soon enough."

Touma appeared from a room just ahead after visiting Maycia who was on life support. Her brain was completely fried, so she was declared brain dead.

Even if Maycia were to be revived by creating a new brain for her, the old Maycia would still remain "dead".

But if the Diffusion Ghost network has a backup copy of Maycia's memories, the old Maycia can be revived. It was Touma's only hope.

"What's the situation, Misaki?" Touma asked.

"Febri will die in two days if we don't find the people who created her. That's troubling. STUDY has done a very good job in hiding the location of their HQ, but I've found all their traps, aka possible locations. Through elimination, we should be able to figure out its location by dawn."

"Wait... Misaki? Why are you on a first name basis with her?!" Mikoto said.

Touma scratched his head, "Because she's my childhood friend?"

It was too much for Mikoto. She felt her surroundings grew darker and darker with despair.

"I don't want to live on this planet anymore."

Misaki tilted her head in confusion before clinging onto Touma's arm.

"Anyway, we need your help. Things would be a lot easier if you agree."

"And why should I help you...?" Mikoto said.

"Us." Touma smiled with a small hint of sadness, "It's for that little blonde girl lying inside that ward, and for a promise I've made to her twin."

Mikoto didn't have the heart to reject him when she sensed that small hint of sadness.

Did something happened along the way? Anyway, I guess I can at least do something for him!

She nodded, "I-It's n-not like I'm do-doing for your sake. I just want to help that poor girl. Y-yeah, that's all."

Misaki said, "That's great. We'll begin at night."

* * *

**Author's Note:** The Slient Party arc would probably be over in the next chapter, so yay?

Anyway, about Seria is Touma's ex-girlfriend. It just kinda clicked with whatever I was planning, so I thought, why not?

Lastly, about Maycia's sprouting white wings, it kinda reflects what Accelerator wants to be deep down inside. To protect somebody with his power. There isn't really any epic fight between Touma and Maycia because I want to reserve all the cool moves when Touma fights the real thing (Accelerator).

To MrPedoBear: Glad that it isn't boring :)

To WikiWonder: Thanks for providing information to people who might be too lazy to seach Wikipedia for the Holy Lance. Oh, and did you know that water and blood poured out from Jesus when he was stabbed by the sides to check if he was still alive. This is proof that he is both human and God at the same time.

To Guest: I'm not sure if I can continue A Mirage To Keep You Safe, because this fic is actually quite similar to that fic. I would be repeating the same ideas twice if I continue AMTKYS. But hopefully this fic would end up different enough to make continuing worth it.

I guess that's all.

Hope you liked this chapter.

If there's anything you want to comment about, leave it in the review box below.

See you :)


	5. Silent Party (3)

"This is ridiculous."

The boy who bribed a small girl to send his graviton bomb stuffed inside a doll to one Judgement member could not believe his eyes.

The explosion was nullified as a black, spiky-haired boy pulled a bident out from nothing.

What the fuck exactly happened?

It did seem as though that spiky-haired boy pulled out that bident from his explosion. Perhaps he somehow converted his explosion into a bident?

But isn't that something only a Level 5 can do? Not only that, I don't know any Level 5... or any ESPer who could do that!

While his attempt in killing a Judgement member failed, he did make it out of the mall alive. There was a crazy blonde child in the mall who crushed a crowd into unrecognisable corpses just by looking at them.

The graviton bomber boy rested his back against a wall in an alley as he sighed in relief.

At least I'm alive. If this attempt in killing a Judgement member fails, I'll just have to try again.

He hated Judgement for being so useless. So useless. If they were more competent enough, his friend would not be lying in the hospital stuck in a coma.

That's why I'll show them the price for being so useless.

He laughed as he thought about how shocking it would be if he managed to kill one Judgement member. It was pathetic enough that despite 20 over bombing cases, Judgement was still unable to figure out that he was the one behind everything.

However, today was the day when justice finally caught up to him.

"This is Judgement."

A girl with an auburn twin pigtails wearing Tokiwadai's school uniform was in front of him, flashing the green armband on her left arm.

"What do you want? I believe that being in an alley isn't a crime."

"Cut the act, graviton bomber."

After days of painstakingly investigating every single ESPer who was capable of accelerating gravitons to create bombs, Kuroko finally found the culprit behind the recent bombing incidents.

"Huh? Graviton bomber? You appeared out of nowhere and claim that I'm the bomber? Is Judgement so desperate to find a scapegoat?"

The boy was more condescending than confused. Online netizens were flaming Judgement like crazy for being so incompetent in dealing with the bombing incidents. Their reputation would hit rock bottom if they didn't capture the person behind it soon.

"Pressure from the higher ups?" The boy said, "I didn't know Judgement has fallen so low to framing innocent people just to salvage their reputation."

"We have evidence proving that you were the one behind it. Just admit it already. Pleading guilty might just reduce your sentence."

Actually, Kuroko didn't have concrete evidence that he was the one behind it. She came to the conclusion that the boy was the culprit through elimination. Thus, Kuroko only had enough evidence to bring him in for questioning.

This was her method in trying to bait him into admitting that he was the culprit.

"So Judgement is pretty competent after all. Haha. It took you long enough. Yes, I was the one behind everything."

Never fails to work. Kuroko thought.

It was rare that she resorted to this, but more people would be hurt with every passing day with the bomber running free. There was no time to spare in gathering more evidence to convict him.

"Just surrender obediently and come with me. There is no point trying to escape."

"I never intended to escape in the first place."

The boy moved closer towards Kuroko, smiling.

"What...?"

It was an inviting smile to Hell.

"I just want you dead."

The boy was about 30cm away from a metallic pipe lining the walls beside Kuroko.

His ability has evolved to a point where he could accelerate gravitons from a distance away.

He moved close enough to cause an explosion by accelerating gravitons acting on the metallic pipe beside Kuroko.

The shockwaves shook the surrounding air violently as parts of the alley caught fire from the blast.

That's strange.

There was no sign of that Judgement girl. Nothing. Not even bits of burnt flesh.

That was my maximum output...

Sensing something strange, the boy turned behind and made his way to another exit. He turned into a few corners when that Judgement girl appeared in front of him again.

There was a slight burn on her left arm, other than that, nothing.

"How did you survive that explosion?!"

She was extremely close to the source of the explosion. The shockwaves should have killed her instantly.

"Teleportation." Kuroko said.

"A teleporter?!"

There was only about 80 people in this city who was a teleporter. Meeting one would be almost impossible according to statistics, but here he was, facing a teleporter.

The boy spat, "Just my luck."

"That's why I said escaping would be futile."

"Did I ever say that I was planning on escaping?"

The boy took out a metal spoon from his pocket, and realized that this was only his spoon.

If this girl really could teleport, this spoon wouldn't be enough to kill her. Shit. I think I really need to escape.

Without thinking, he grabbed a blonde girl who passed by him, jabbing the spoon into her throat.

"I guess I spoke too soon. If you follow me, I'll kill this girl in front of you."

To his surprise, Kuroko was more confused than worried. Even the girl he was holding hostage seemed rather calm, and bored.

"What the hell are you doing here, Shokuhou-san?"

"You're the second person who asked." Misaki yawned, "But its natural that you're asking this question because I always do a good job in hiding my movements."

To Misaki, surprise is everything. Her Mental Out is most lethal when her opponent is caught completely off guard. They'll all fall apart without even knowing why.

Things becomes very complicated if her opponent were expecting her in advance.

Indeed, things would get very complicated if everyone knows about her intention to mass control a large number of people for tonight's plan.

"I still don't understand why the hell are you in an alleyway. Or are you trying to say that I'm not supposed to understand because you do a good job in 'hiding your movement'?"

"That's correct. You can be very clever, Shirai-san." Misaki looked at the boy with a playful smile, "Anyway... Takai Fuji. Nice to meet you."

"How did you know my name...?" Fuji said.

This blonde was scary.

Her reddish eyes had twinkling gold stars for irises. Her playful smile hints at something dangerous. And she knew his name without him telling her anything.

A freaky starry-eyed mind reader? What's with my fucking luck. Oh wait...

Misaki glared at him, "Did you just call me a freak?" but that lasted for a moment before her playful smile returned, "It's okay, let's change that impression, shall we?"

Fuji felt a warm sensation altering his thought process. His memories were being locked away by a black box as he began to realize that his sole purpose in life is to serve his Queen, which was the blonde girl that he was holding hostage.

"Yes... Queen. I'm sorry. I deserve punishment for being so rude."

He dropped his spoon and knelt down, hanging his head low in shame, and slapped himself, never stopping like the moving secondhand of a clock.

Misaki's ability took effect on the boy when he grabbed her arm. Her ability can be activated either by using her remote or through contact with any part of her body.

Remote is always preferred because she can affect multiple people at once unlike contact, which can only affect one people at a time, but it's a nasty surprise for those who thinks that her ability only works with a remote.

"So can you hand him over to me now?" Kuroko said, looking unamused. Typical of her.

Misaki took out her remote, "No."

Pressing a button, Fuji stopped slapping and crawled on all fours, following behind Misaki like a dog as he sticked his tongue out, panting.

To Kuroko, it was like Misaki and Fuji teleported away, but this was only an illusion created by Misaki.

Misaki sighed as she continued walking through the alley.

I hope that peace will return once more after this.

* * *

"You, and you, this side."

Five people began to moving upon Mikoto's command.

Mikoto was leading an army of 160 people split into teams of five people to raid 32 factories and laboratories before dawn. Because it is difficult for her to coordinate a simultaneous raid on the 32 locations, Mikoto would personally lead one team, coordinate two other independent teams, and leave the rest to Misaki.

She spoke into a slim, communication device, "How's the situation on your side?"

"Nothing special in particular. We will continue exploring the area."

According to Misaki, the plan is to raid the HQ of STUDY, an underground organization, to save Febri from dying, and rescue her other sister trapped somewhere inside. The problem is that there are 64 possible locations, and time is running out.

"I didn't expect helping him would involve this kind of things."

Raiding wasn't foreign to her; Mikoto has done it so many times before, but coordinating a raid was. She was a one man show during her time in the darkness, so there was no need for this.

"Empty. All the 13 locations checked so far are all abandoned."

Mikoto looked around the bare surroundings around her. A few rusty machinery lying about and nothing else.

"Decoys are annoying, especially if all of them are that large."

This factory was large, so it would take some time for her team to completely check out the area. The same situation had occured for all the other 13 locations already, which considerably slowed her progress.

Mikoto spoke into her device, "Oi Shokuhou, how's things on your side?"

"Nothing so far."

"Okay."

I wonder if that idiot is actually mind-controlled by that Shokuhou.

Mikoto thought as she cut the connection on her device. She never understood Touma's power, so there was a possibility that Mental Out might somehow work on him.

But for a guy who could kill me in two moves within one second... is it really possible?

Her small crush on Touma seemed to be fading away into disappointment when Mikoto thought about how Touma was actually another mind-controlled puppet.

How disgusting.

The fact that all of Misaki's friends must be her toys that she plays around with in school disgusted Mikoto. Even Touma, a really cool, but idiotic guy in her opinion was also her toy?

That's why I really hate this bitch. Are you so desperate for a childhood friend that you mind controlled that idiot to be one.

Mikoto checked on her two independent team through the device to clear her mind.

"How's the situation?"

"..."

Silence.

"Any reply? Hello? Anyone there?"

"..."

Silence continued.

Did something happened?

Mikoto decided to check on her team inside this factory.

"Are you guys okay?"

"Yes, we're o-"

There was silence once again, before a male voice sounded from somewhere within this factory.

"Railgun. While we still don't understand your purpose in raiding our decoys, here's a welcome gift for you."

"You're STUDY, aren't you?"

"Be honored that you'll be the first to experience our true power."

Countless Powered Suits surrounded Mikoto. Green and humanoid in shape, with both arms replaced by a cannon, and on its back, a large cannon was attached. All of them were aimed for Mikoto.

Blue electrical tendrils danced around Mikoto as she summoned her iron sand sword.

"Don't look down on a Level 5."

She took a step forward, and her battle with those Powered Suits began.

* * *

"I get the feeling that this place is just another decoy." Touma said.

Together with Misaki, they were inside a laboratory facility. It was a rather small facility with only three levels.

"Thanks to Misaka's help, we've eliminated 13 locations ahead of schedule. Everything should be over before midnight." Misaki said.

"Yeah. And I can finally finish my homework in peace."

"Why do you even bother with homework? You still have supplementary lessons even if you finish all of them."

"Because I don't want more supplementary lessons." Touma sighed, "Such misfortune."

The both of them exited the second level, and headed to the lobby in the first level. It was designed tastefully as several ornaments were placed around, and the tiles were monochromatic.

Misaki twirled the remote in her hand, "I can change that, you know?"

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Touma has been studying the unique laws behind magical grimoires for so long that it was difficult for him to adjust back to ordinary high school science and math, which he used to be good at. Also, he wasn't the best in his other subjects. Combined with his daily misfortune, it was difficult to sit down for at least 5 hours per day to finish his homework.

Punishment for not finishing homework was supplementary lessons.

Misaki leaned close, and whispered seductively to Touma, "How about this? If you give me a deep, passionate french kiss, I'll finish all your homework."

"I get the feeling that I'm selling my body for homework."

"Why not? I'll make you feel really good, and you get your homework done as well, isn't that wonderf- Ouch."

Touma lightly smacked Misaki's head, "This must be a side effect of puberty."

"I'm already way past puberty," Misaki pointed to her impressive chest, "This is proof. You could touch it to prove its authenticity. Hehe, do you know that I spotted Misaka looking at my chest with jealousy a couple of times."

"Maybe she'll feel better if you tell her your true age."

Misaki shook her head, "No. I'll look like a old hag if I do so."

"17 isn't that old."

"What are you talking about? I'm _14_."

Touma smirked, "Yes yes. If only you were older, then I might consider giving you that deep, passionate french kiss you wanted. Unfortunately, 14 is really too young."

"Okay, I'm 17, now kiss me."

"It doesn't work like that! Nobody turns 17 from 14 within 10 seconds."

"But I'm really 17!"

"Now you admit it. I should have recorded this and blackmail you in exchange for not being so perverted."

"Shouldn't it be the opposite? You should blackmail me for sex. That's how things work! Wait..."

Something was wrong. She sensed the existence of the remaining 145 people connected to her internal Mental Out network was rapidly disappearing like ants being squashed by several fingers at once.

Misaki used Telepathy and realized that all of them were being wiped out by Green Powered Suits which were humanoid in shape, equipped with a cannon on their back, and an arm replaced by another cannon.

"What's wrong?" Touma asked.

"They've finally made their move."

The same Powered Suits crashed into the lobby from all directions. About 30 surrounded the both of them, with all their cannons locked on and ready to fire.

"I guess it can't be helped." Touma said.

"Sorry then." Misaki pressed a button on her remote.

The area flashed bright green, the lobby was reduced to rubble, and the building collapsed soon after as the foundations were destroyed.

However, a swirling air dome protected Touma and Misaki from the assault from the falling concrete and the laser beams.

Blood was trickling from Touma's lips, trying his best to keep standing as he trembled in pain.

Misaki held a sliver spear in one hand.

It was the Gáe Bolg.

Made from the bone of Coinchenn, a sea monster, the spear granted one control over wind and water.

There was also a cursed power within the spear that could reverse the laws of causality. For example, the cause would be "the opponent has been pierced by the spear "and the effect would be to "throw the spear". This guarantees a sure-kill as their fate has already been sealed.

Only an embodiment of a miracle like Misaki, despite being artificial, can theoretically wield this power, because only a miracle can ignore the laws of causality and make anything possible. Or a Magic God at a 50% chance of succeeding.

Because the true spear has been lost after Touma's defeat in Europe, Misaki could only summon a portion of its power, so its cursed power was not available to her.

She glided across the ground, conjured a large tornado, blasting all the Powered Suits into mid-air, before Misaki leaped up, hurled her spear through one Powered Suit, before taking out her remote. Multiple Gáe Bolgs were summoned with each press, impaling all the suits, and a huge chain explosion occurred mid-air.

Misaki gracefully landed and went over to Touma. His body was tearing apart as if he was about to burst. Blood was flowing from all parts of his body.

"I think this might take a while." Touma said.

Normally, an ESPer cannot cast magic. If they were to cast magic, their body would be damaged because the process of creating mana for magic clashes with the AIM field surrounding them.

The problem is solved through a damage transfer curse. Even the damage suffered from activating this curse would be transferred to the target. In this way, Misaki could cast magic freely with all damages to her body transferred to Touma. However, this curse only works if the target is within a 25m radius.

"I'll check if Misaka is okay."

Misaki took out her communication device. There was only static.

She wiped a fake tear off her face, "Rest in peace, Misaka. We'll always remember you. Where should we go to celebrate this joyous event?"

"It'd take more than that to kill a Level 5."

Touma's external wounds were completely healed, but his internal wounds was still in the process of healing.

"Let's make a small bet, there's three location left unchecked and one of them should be STUDY's HQ. Pick one location, if that location isn't the HQ, you'll give me a french kiss." Misaki grinned, "Or you can give it to me now since you'll lose anyway."

"I won't give up till very end."

Touma picked a location, hoping that he might somehow get lucky. He had a bad habit of tempting fate. Despite his misfortune guaranteeing that he would be wrong, Touma was willing to give it a shot.

After 20 minutes, to his horror, the location was a single level factory with nothing inside.

"No matter how you look at it, this isn't STUDY's HQ. I win!" Misaki activated her cutesy pose with a horizontal v-sign.

"... Such misfortune."

* * *

Aritomi Haruki sat in his office, viewing the situation from a laptop as he adjusted his spectacles.

There was an invasion led by two Level 5s. But their small army was effortlessly crushed by his Powered Suits. The only survivors were the Level 5s and a black, spiky haired boy.

Something was odd with Shokuhou Misaki. Since when could Mental Out allow her to propel 30 over Powered Suits mid air through a large tornado, before leaping up and summon multiple spears by pressing her remote?

This is somehow an illusion, right? Or did she achieve a new clearance level to her ability? Could she be somewhere beside me, and what I'm seeing is all just an illusion.

Haruki shook his head and looked intensely around his surroundings. Nothing has changed. Those bookshelves filled with books were still there. His desk was still a desk, and his laptop as well.

I must be getting a little paranoid. But how did that Mental Out manage to do that? This is beyond the scope of her ability.

Haruki decided to leave that question for another time as he observed Mikoto's fight with his upgraded Powered Suits.

Unfortunately, due to a freak accident, all 1000 of his equipped Powered Suits were destroyed. However, his recent huge business deal with a rich client injected fresh capital into STUDY, so Haruki managed to get another 300 Powered Suits equipped with his prototype FIVE_Over Modelcase MELTDOWNER.

Once that FIVE_Over technology is fully functional, STUDY will be one step closer to be recognized as an powerful underground organization in the darkness comparable to the Kiharas.

There was also the Diffusion Ghost network that could control 20,000 unmanned Powered Suits at maximum capacity, and Maycia, the prototype artificial ESPer who possessed the #1's ability, but she died from exceeding her limits when that code was inputted into her.

STUDY was still in the process of reverse engineering this code, but apparently, it was a code that forcefully input values into Maycia's AIM field, allowing her to create imaginary vectors.

If their reverse engineering was successful, they could potentially create the ultimate killing machine which could kill a large amount of people within a fraction of a second.

All of this was possible thanks to their backer, Kumokawa Seria. She saw the potential in them, invested a lot of money, and shared some valuable technology such as the blueprints to the prototype FIVE_Over Modelcase MELTDOWNER, and the code.

But I don't have to be afraid of Kumokawa as soon as STUDY finishes reverse engineering that code. With imaginary vectors as a bargaining chip, I'll get a Board Of Director to back us up as well to cement our position in the darkness. If she agrees, that's great, if not I'll just dispose of her.

Haruki watched in awe as Mikoto lured all the Powered Suits outside, tore down the factory as she attracted all the metal to her, and used them as projectiles for her Railgun.

His Powered Suits were immune to any electron attacks by applying a electron flow disruption barrier built using his research data from the #1 and the #4.

Mikoto was at a loss initially. While she could deflect the laser beams using electromagnetism, her iron sand sword could not lay a single scratch on those Powered Suits.

Mikoto's iron sand sword works by vibrating iron particles at high speed using magnetism to create a sharp blade.

Somehow, the electrons keeping the particles magnetized would no longer be aligned upon contact with its armour, causing her sharp blade to dissipate.

Even after abandoning her iron sand sword, and switched to concentrated lightning strikes, it only left a burn mark on the armour.

Mikoto took out a coin, fired a Railgun, pierced through the amour of one Powered Suits, blasting the Suit, and two other nearby Suits into pieces.

"But I only have 9 coins left...and there's so many."

She lured all the Powered Suits outside, and gather enough metallic projectiles by tearing down the factory.

Mikoto used her Rail Shotgun, shooting 8 Powered Suits at a time. She deflected a few incoming beams, and fired her second and third shotgun, destroying all the Powered Suits. The amour was surprisingly weak according to Academy City's standard if her Rail Shotgun could pierce through it without much resistance.

Haruki blamed himself for not having enough money to strengthen the amour, but at least Mikoto shown that the barrier was on the right track.

He switched to another screen to check on Jun.

She was supposed to be locked up inside a secure room. Escape should have been impossible.

But Jun was gone.

Haruki realized that there was another traitor in STUDY other than Jun. He checked the time when was the door opened.

Good. Only 10 minutes ago. They must still be inside this building.

He activated an alarm inside the building and made an announcement.

"Sakurai has escaped. There is also another traitor. Search the building and recapture them."

* * *

Jun and Shinobu was hiding in a corner inside the building. It was a blind spot where the security cameras could not cover. An alarm has been activated, and Powered Suits were patrolling the area.

Jun peeked out and spotted a few Powered Suits armed with something like a hockey stick patrolling the area, "They may not be equipped with any cannons, but one hit from them would instantly kill us."

"Unfortunately, I only have two 9mm guns. We don't have enough firepower to break through."

"But we can't stay here forever." Jun said.

Shinobu was the one who convinced her to help Maycia and Febri to escape in order to save Janie from being the Diffusion Ghost network core.

The result was that Maycia died while Febri was left in a critical state when Haruki and Seria overloaded the network through a code. But this would have probably happened anyway. It was only a matter of how fast Maycia and Febri managed to find someone who would save Janie before they ended up in such a state.

Jun had no way of knowing if they succeeded, so she assumed that they failed.

I can only rely on myself... and Shinobu.

By dawn, Haruki would unleash his Silent Party Plan to show Academy City STUDY's power.

300 Powered Suits equipped with cannons, and the remaining 18,700 Powered Suits would cause widespread destruction throughout Academy City. An entire district would be destroyed within 15 minutes.

Those Powered Suits armed with only hockey sticks, despite their bulky size, is as fast as a moving car. Also, three Powered Suit alone is enough to tear down a building completely in 40 seconds. Their strength is nothing to laugh at.

Janie's personality would be erased to optimize the network core. Even the secret backup memories of Janie, Febri and Maycia stored in the network by Shinobu would be erased as well to free calculation space as part of the optimization process. This was done to better coordinate 19,000 Powered Suits.

Jun needed to reach the mainframe of the network and download their memories into a USB thumbdrive provided by Shinobu before they get erased. Once this was done, she would recreate the three of them with all their memories intact.

Shinobu pointed to a open room, "I think I have an idea. Further inside would be the weapon storeroom. Once I acquire a few Metal FX, we'll have enough firepower to fight against the Suits."

"You mean..."

"Yes, shoot the lockpad with your gun. As soon as I'm inside, shoot. This should buy enough time to get that Metal FX."

The weapon storeroom contained various gun models bought to test it against Maycia's Vector Change. Some of them were powerful enough to take out one Suit with a few shot. In exchange for speed, the Powered Suits had weaker amour.

"But I'm not very good with shooting."

Jun was a scientist, so she didn't have much experience in handling a gun. It wasn't easy to shoot with precision for an amateur.

"Well, your password has been changed, so I'm only the one who can enter the room for now."

"... I'll try."

"Don't try. I might lose my life if you fail."

Jun steadied her aim on the lockpad. The door would be shut as soon it was destroyed. It was a sturdy door, so it would take a few seconds for the Suits to break through. If she fails, Shinobu might not be able to outrun the Suits, and die.

Jun took a deep breath, "Alright. I can do this. Yeah."

"On the count of 3, 2, 1."

Shinobu sprinted, about to enter the open room. Jun's hands were trembling under pressure. One shot. That was all she got.

I can do this!

As Shinobu leaped inside the open room, Jun fired.

She missed.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, Jun corrected her aim within half a second after missing and fired again.

Because of the half second delay, a Powered Suit was clamped by the closing door. It broke free, and a few other Suits followed behind, pursuing Shinobu at full speed.

She initially outran those Suits because it took some time for them through acceleration to reach maximum velocity. However, the distance was becoming lesser by the second.

Just when Shinobu was in the range of one Powered Suit's hockey stick, she leaped sideways into the weapon storeroom, landing painfully on several guns lying on the ground, grabbed a one directional shockwave bomb that happened to be there, and knocked back those Powered Suits.

It was white, just like the testing room reserved for Maycia. Weapons such as guns and bombs were strewn about like a three year old not cleaning up after his play session.

"What a mess. The Metal FX should be somewhere around here."

Shinobu picked up a Metal FX after digging through one pile. It was an anti-tank rifle powerful enough to pierce through thick amour.

She fired at the Powered Suits, destroying them easily due to their weak amour.

Shinobu received a phone call.

It was Seria.

"I've gotta hand it to Aritomi. Despite already disposing 1000 equipped Powered Suits, he managed to equip another 300 Powered Suits in secret. All of them have been deployed in the 31 decoy sites, ready to attack Academy City any time."

"I understand. I know what to do."

"Excellent."

Shinobu was Seria's spy planted inside STUDY. Convincing Jun to free Maycia and Febri in order to find somebody to save Janie was only an excuse to release them into the 'wild' for Seria's experimental purposes.

But Jun was a good woman who genuinely cared about the three of them, so Shinobu did her a favour by secretly backing up all their memories so that if anything bad happens to them, they can be recreated.

"I guess I have another reason to make a trip to the mainframe."

* * *

"I guess we're here." Touma said.

Touma and Misaki was inside a large stadium. There were tunnels at the sides and at the end below a large screen.

"Assuming that one of the three locations unchecked is the HQ. But I have a feeling that its here." Misaki said.

The large screen came alive. A man wearing spectacles was on the screen. It was Aritomi Haruki.

"Your pathetic army has been completely crushed by our Powered Suits. What are you planning by trying to invade STUDY's HQ?"

"Isn't that obvious? To save Janie, Febri and Maycia." Touma said.

Aritomi was confused for a moment, then he laughed as he realized what was going on, "With just the two of you? Let me tell you something. Even though ESPers may be strong, but they can be defeated with enough numbers. Be overwhelmed by sheer numbers, you disgusting ESPers."

Powered Suits began swarming like ants from all the tunnels, and surrounded the both of them. None of them were equipped with cannons, but armed with something like a hockey stick.

Misaki took out her remote, and looked at Touma. He nodded.

Touma felt his insides tearing apart again as multiple jet streams shot from the ground, blasting the Powered Suits apart.

Misaki stood on a towering air column, pointing her Gáe Bolg at Touma.

Another towering air column shot towards him like a moving train. He absorbed it with his right hand, and grey wings emerged from his back.

Touma flew up, extending his wings and destroyed Powered Suits below like playing connecting the dots. However, more and more Powered Suits kept on appearing.

"Let's not waste any more time." Misaki said.

She leaped off and the Gáe Bolg in Misaki's hands disappeared, transforming into sliver wings behind her.

Touma and Misaki each pulled out a spear from their wings, and hurled it towards the ground below, shattering it and a 10 meters deep crater was formed. All the Powered Suits, and subsequent Suits appearing from the tunnel tumbled down the crater.

Misaki took Touma's hand and shot Aritomi a wry smile, who was dumbfounded at what he just saw.

"Numbers mean nothing to us. Quality over quantity."

The large screen was destroyed as Misaki tore a hole through it with her wings.

"What's left now is to find Jun, and it'll be all over."

* * *

Aritomi rushed towards the mainframe through a corridor. There was 5 levels more to go.

That bastard Jun! But I don't understand. I don't understand how is it possible for the Mental Out to summon wings, a spear and control wind when Mental Out is purely an ability to affect the human mind!

The purpose of the invasion is to destroy the Diffusion Ghost network. Somehow, Jun must have found outside help as well. Two Level 5s, one boy, and an army.

Strangely, they don't seem to know about my Silent Party Plan. I believe what they're aiming for is probably to save Janie from being the core, and get the recipe for a lollipop that can prolong Febri's life.

It was a secret plan to show Academy City STUDY's power by launching a devastating terrorist attack. Only the six members of STUDY were aware of this. Even their backer, Kumokawa Seria was unaware of this.

I'll show them that technology can surpass ESPers.

The prototype FIVE_Over Modelcase MELTDOWNER, an imaginary vector artificial ESPer created through their Chemicaloid technology, mobile Powered Suits produced in large quantities.

All of them were proof. While the imaginary vector artificial ESPer needed more time, the rest should be enough to prove to Academy City that he was correct.

A revolution will begin at dawn.

That is in danger of being stopped by the two intruders when they save Janie. Without the Diffusion Ghost network, there was nothing to activate the 19,000 Powered Suits.

If that's the case, I'll start my revolution earlier. Once the network is in full force, they can no longer stop it without killing Janie!

Aritomi reached for his phone, "Kosaku, activate the network now. Don't ask any questions, just do it."

"... Understood."

After travelling through several corridors and three flights of staircases, Aritomi reached the mainframe.

It was a large room filled with computer terminals as large as a telephone booth, and he sat down in one of the terminals beside Kosaku.

"How's the situation?"

"..."

There was no response. Kosako stared at the screen blankly, with stars in his eyes.

He turned his head towards Aritomi like a zombie.

"It's over."

Aritomi felt the cold, gun barrel pressed on his head. It was Shinobu.

Touma, Misaki and Jun surrounded him.

"Your Silent Party has ended before it begun." Misaki said.

Aritomi bit his lips in anger, "Yo-you! I haven't lost yet!"

Ignoring Shinobu's gun, he pressed a few buttons on the keyboard. A red warning sign labelled 'Final Phase' appeared on the screen. The building began to tremble.

Aritomi threw his head back and cackled, "Everything is over now! The Diffusion Ghost network is self destructing! Janie will die, and so will Febri! Academy City will be destroyed! DESTROYED!"

He had fired a missile from a structure in space 35,000 km above the Earth. Academy City will be wiped out once it lands. This was the final phase that nobody could stop when activated.

Everything was truly over.

Misaki shook her head, "Do you really think so?"

His cackling stopped, "Eh?"

"Are those buttons you pressed really buttons? Are the people standing in front of you real? Are you sure that you're really seated in front of a terminal?"

Aritomi blinked, and he realized that he was handcuffed and seated at a corner.

"It was all just an illusion...? Everything that I saw... was just an illusion?"

"Well, not all of it though."

"Since when... since when... did everything become an illusion?"

Was it from the time when he saw Misaki summoning a spear in his office? Or was it from the time when he rushed towards the mainframe?

Shinobu and Jun was at a terminal, downloading the backup memories of Maycia, the recipe to save Febri, and disconnecting Janie from the Diffusion Ghost network.

Touma was standing beside Misaki as they faced Aritomi.

"Life is unfair, isn't it? Especially in Academy City where despite how much effort one puts into their studies, how many papers one publishes, only ESPers are ever recognized by the city." Touma said.

"How did you..."

"I read your mind, and I told him that. I know why you're doing this" Misaki said.

"Then you should know how unfair this ESPer system in Academy City is! This revolution will show this ESPer obsessed city that technology can surpass ESPers, and can create even better ESPers than the curriculum. That's why they should start recognizing people like us!"

"But that doesn't give you the rights to hurt people."

"Your motivations are immature. Yes, it is unfair that you don't get recognized for your work, but is fame all you care about? Launching a 19,000 Powered Suits terrorist attack on the city just for fame?" Misaki said.

Aritomi might not have realized it, but Misaki saw that deep inside, he wanted fame. He wanted to be recognized by everyone. Wanting to prove that technology can surpass ESPers is just him subconsciously covering up his true intention.

"I..."

Misaki pointed her remote at him, "Why don't we change that, shall we?"

"While you're at it, change his thieving habits as well."

Seria entered the room, and glared at Touma.

It has been years since they met.

"Yeah, the base program for this Chemcialoid technology..." Touma said.

"Is a program that we created together."

The awkward atmosphere was growing stronger as silence continued.

Touma decided to say something to end it.

"...How's life?"

"Fine."

Her words were cold and unfeeling. Seria suppressed the urge to ask him about his blood stained clothes. She didn't want to let Touma know that she still cared about him.

Also, her life was far from fine. Being reduced to working under somebody when she was once ruled over half of Academy City's darkness wasn't fine.

Seria took out a gun, "Hey, why? Why did you do this to me? You never really gave me an answer."

Misaki watched Touma as he struggled to reply, but couldn't.

If she knew the truth, then maybe she wouldn't hate him. But can a person so deeply soaked in science believe the truth?

This must be what Touma is thinking. Even if he gave her an answer, would she believe him?

Seria pointed the gun at Haruki, "Will you tell me now?"

"The Seria I know wouldn't do this kind of th-"

She shot Haruki in the head.

"The Seria that you knew died from the day when you destroyed my corporation just to save Misaka Mikoto."

"It's not her fault. It has nothing to do with her!"

"THEN WHAT IS IT? ANSWER ME."

Those memories of being with Touma flashed past Seria's mind. It was beautiful, but that was why it was especially painful.

Touma trembled, staring wide-eyed at Seria, like he was about to break down anytime. Yet he couldn't squeeze out the answer from his mouth.

"How cruel." Seria dropped her gun, and left the room with a desolate look.

You're still the same.

* * *

"So what are your future plans?"

Touma and Misaki was outside the hospital at a bus stop with Jun and the triplets.

"I guess I'll become a teacher for a living." Jun said.

Because Maycia's backup memories were only up till the point where she escaped the facility, she didn't remember meeting Touma and Misaki at all.

To Maycia, it felt like a miracle. It was like closing her eyes, and awaking to see that everything was okay now.

"Well, I don't really remember meeting you two, but thanks for everything."

The Diffusion Ghost network has been dismantled, and the 19,000 Powered Suits has already been disposed of.

It was a fairy-tale like happy ending.

Jun smiled, "We'll be going now. Say goodbye to Kamijou and Shokuhou."

Janie and Febri waved goodbye enthusiastically while Maycia nodded, and the four of them left inside a bus.

"Why don't you tell Kumokawa the truth? It may be difficult for her to believe you, but I'm sure if we explain things properly, it'll be alright." Misaki said.

Touma stared at the road ahead, silent.

"Are you okay...?"

He broke the silence.

"Remember that bet?" Touma said.

"What bet? Oh you mean th-"

Touma pulled Misaki into his arms, and pressed his lips against her.

Misaki opened her mouth, accepting his tongue.

Warm, and moist.

Their tongues began to explore each other's mouth, touching every now and then.

His scent was comforting, and Misaki gazed deep into his eyes.

Is it me that he sees with those eyes, or is it Kumokawa? Am I just a substitute?

Misaki pushed him away, confusing Touma.

"I... thought you liked kissing?"

She averted her eyes before looking back, "Well, we're in public after all. I might lose control you know, hahaha."

It was a lousy excuse to hide her displeasure when she thought about being just a substitute for Seria.

"I see." Touma said, "Then I'll be going this way."

Misaki nodded, "See you."

She hopped on the bus heading towards the School Garden, and looked at Touma walking back to his dorm through the window, clutching a remote in one hand.

If only I could know your true feelings, wouldn't that be good?

* * *

**Author's Note: **And here's the end of the Silent Party Arc. Sorry if it didn't end with a bang just like in canon when Mikoto flew up into space because Misaki read his mind, so she already dealt with this possibility already.

But there's a small kissing scene between Touma and Misaki, which I admit I'm horrible in writing such scenes, but I try.

I felt that it's fitting that Misaki would also have a weapon if she fought alongside with Touma. So I chose Gae Bolg from the Nasuverse because it's kinda cool, and the weapon fits with the concept of creating a miracle because it can tamper with fate by reversing cause and effect. I made up the controlling wind and water part though.

To RandomReview: Well, actually most of the new things are backstories, but I understand that it may be difficult to digest so many things at once, and it seems kinda rushed. If there's any questions, you may ask me :)

Anyway, I hoped that you liked the ending, despite having no final boss to fight or whatever, and may seem a bit anti-climatic, but that's how STUDY is.

If you have any comments, leave them in the review box below.

See you.

**EDIT 06/11/2013:** Not really an edit, but I changed the summary as you can see. After thinking about what OPorNotOP said; that its not very character driven, I realized that I should change the summary to fit the story better. I don't know if the new summary would change anything, but I think it can only make things better... or worse?


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